Bridle.



O. BROCKMAN.

BRIDLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.9.1915.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

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' OSCAR BROCKMAN, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

' BRIDLE.

To all whom it may concern "Beit known that I, OSCAR BROG MAN, a

new and useful Improvements in Bridles;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make This invention relates to harness,and more especially to bridles; and the primary object of the same is toconstruct a bridle almost entirely of rope or large cord.

Other objects are to render it strong, durable, serviceable, and cheap;to provide for adjustment at various points; to relieve the rope fromfriction and wear; to provide a hook for detachably engaging thebit-ring, and another hook for detachably engaging. the rosette; toprovide for the attachment of the blinds, and in'such manner that drafton the reins will not disarrange the blinds; and to provide for a wearstrap over the hames, and a means for attaching the reins. These variousobjects are accomplished by the construction hereinafter more fullydescribed and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawingwherein:

Figure, 1 is a perspective view of this bridle complete, with the blindsshown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail perspective View,partly in section, showing the specific means for attaching'the blind.Fig. 3 is a detail of the bit hook. Fig. 4: is a detail of the snaphookon the throat latch,

slightly modified. Fig. 5 is a detail of the rosette. Fig. '6 is adetail of one of the so= called buckles.

In carrying outthe primary object of this invention'which is toconstruct a bridle of rope with metal fittings, I may employ any durableand weather-resisting rope or large cord which may be of one sizethroughout, although I have shown the throat latch as made of a piece'ofcord of a little smaller size. the hame pads are herein illustrated asunderlying its ends, said rope might have its terminals so that thestraps shown could be continued back to the driver and would thereforeconstitute the reins; or the rope could be carried'back over said strapsand itselfserve as the reins, while the straps Specification of LettersPatent.

Where the main rope terminates and would be only longfenough to overliethe 'hames'and serve'their function as pads. I

do not wish to be'limited in this respect, nor to the use of anyparticular kind of bit. Also I have shown afrather' wide head-stall forgreater comfort to the horse, but this element might be' of rope ifdesired, with or without an underlying pad.

The essential elements ofthis bridle are the two pieces of rope andtheseveral fittlngswhich latter I preferably make of metal as describedindetail below. The blinds and their supports are attachments,

'and I claim only the wires herein which co-act with the bridle.

On this understand- 1ng, the bit illustrated here is shown as comprisinga mouthpiece with rings R at its extremities, and the blinds aredesignated by the letter B.

Coming now to the details of the invention, the main rope is shown asleading from one of its terminals 1 through abuckle 10, thence through aloop at one end of the throatlatch 20, thence through one of the bithooks 30, thence through the rosette 40, over the brow in the browband,and through .the other rosette,the other bit hook, and the loop at theother endof the throat latch, back to the other terminal which overliesthe opposite hame pad; the second pieceof rope constitutes the throatlatch; and the head-stall 50 is herein shown as made of a piece ofwebbing or fabric whose ends are attached to the rosettes, although asabove described it could also be rope. The two sides of this bridle willduplicate each other, and therefore I need describe but one.

The'hame pad, which is particularly useful for preventing wear on therope when the latter is continued to the rear into the reins, or'whichitself may be continuedinto' the leather reins, is herein shown as anordinary strap 2 underlying the extremity 1 of cross bar 14: of thebuckle 10 best seen in Patented Sept. *7, 1915.

Application filed March 9, 1915. Serial No. 13Q227.

Fig. 6'. ,p This crossbar separates two eyes 15 which are so shaped thatthe rope may pass' freely through them, but those parts of the bucklecomposing the frames 16 of said eyes areup-bent so that their'outer.ends 17 are considerably higher than the cross bar 14; The result isthat'the rope does not have to make an excessively short bend at 7 between said ends 17 where it passes over the cross bar and the bend ofthe loop 3, and

when said loop is brought downward and the rope given a shorter bend itcan be slipped up through one eye and down through the other andadjusted. Thereafter the parts can be restored to the position shown inFig. 1, and thepresence of the strap 2 will hold them adjusted. Fromsaid buckle the, stretch of rope extends alongside the horses neck as at18 and passes through a loop 28 formed at one extremity of another pieceof rope whose body 20 constitutes the throat latch whose details ofconstruction will be described below, and thence the rope passesdownward in a stretch which may be called the main line 19 and liesalongside the cheek. Next the rope passes downward through one eye 35 ofthe bit hook best seen in Fig. 3, under its cross bar 34, and upwardthrough its other eye, and rises alongside the cheek and the main line19 in what I will call the cheek line 39. Next the ropepasses outwardthrough one eye 45 of the rosette best seen in Fig. 5, over its crossbar 4 1, and inward through its other eye; and from this point the ropeleads into the brow-band 19 which passes across the brow of the horse,thence through the other rosette, other bit hook, other throat latchloop, and back to the other hame pad.

The head-stall 50 is herein shown as a piece of webbing passing over thehorses head and with its extremities 51 carried down inside the rosettes40 so that the latter may not touch the horse. Stitched to its body nearits ends are loops 53 which loosely embracethe upper frame bars of therosettes, and the well known function of this head-stall is to hold thebridle on the horse while the bit is in its mouth.

The bit is held in place by hooks 30 best seen in Fig. 3, detaehablyengaging the bitrings B. Each of these bit hooks has a pair of eyes 35separated by a cross bar 3 1 and inclosed within a frame 36; and fromone side of the latter opposite its cross bar the shank 37 of the hookprojects on a line oblique to the plane of the entire frame, while thebill 38 of the hook is formed by the inturned outer end of the shank.The construction is such that the bend 32 of the rope beneath the crossbar 34 lies normally against the tip of the bill and closes the throatof the hook so that the ring B may not escape therefrom; but when theparts are loosened by drawing downward on the bend so that the two lines19 and 39 slip down through the eyes 35, this bend can be deflected awayfrom the tip of the bill and the ring inserted or removed. Thereforethis operation is employed for attaching the bridle to the bit, or foradjusting the length of one or both of the lines mentioned.

The rosette 4L0 best seen in Fig. 5 has a substantially circular frame46 having cross bars within it defining two eyes 45 separated by a bar14 for the purpose already mentioned, a third smaller and practicallycentral eye 47, and a fourth larger eye or opening 48 with which theloop 53 engages as explained above. In addition, this element may haveornamental features as often employed on harness, but they are omittedas they form no part of the present invention.

Each end of the throat latch 20 passes up through one eye 25 of the snaphook best seen in Fig. 4-, then over its cross bar 24 and down throughthe other eye, beneath which it is formed into the loop 28 alreadyreferred to. These eyes are inclosed within a frame 26, one end of whichis continued into the shank 27 of a hook which is of a size to embracethe frame 46 of the rosette and which may well'have its bill passedthrough the opening 4-.8 therein. In this instance I sometimes employ aspring metal tongue 21, although obviously if the shank of the hookprojected from the side of the frame or its bill were long enough thebend of the throat latch rope would itself constitute the tongue orclosure forfthe throat of the hook. In any event, the throat latch canbe adjusted by slipping the rope up through the two eyes 25, andthencarrying one stretch down through its eye and adj usting both;

This improved bridle is especially adapted to the reception of a blind.The latter is broadly designated at B, and I would mount it within aframe of rather stiff wire 60, which latter is carried out at one cornerand made project through the cheek line 39 as at 61, thence pass upalong and beneath the same as at 62, and finally be formed into a hook63 which passes through the loop 53 above the rosette. As the brow-bandis rarely adjusted, the blinds will retain this position even though thetwo lines 39 and 19 are adjusted through the bit hooks, and.

they will also retain this position when the reins are drawn upon andthe lines 18 and 19 swing where they are supported from the rosettes 40by the loops 28. This rather stiff mounting of the blinds also obviatesthe necessity for the use of winker braces, and if the wire be pliableit is quite possible that the blinds could be attached and detachedwhenever desired. With or without this detail, it will be seen that Ihave produced a bridle made almost completely of rope and metalfittings, and whose use need not be elaborated herein.

What I claim is:

1. The herein described bridle having throat latch formed of one pieceof rope lines, adapted to be connected with the bit, and extendingthrough said loops to the reins.

2. The herein described bridle comprising a head-stall, rosettes at theends thereof, snap hooks engaging the rosettes and each having a pair ofeyes, a throat latch of rope which near each end engages one pair ofsaid eyes, and a loop at each extremity of the throat latch; and a mainrope whose center constitutes the brow-band, and which leads from eachend thereof first through the rosette, thence down in a check lineadapted to be connected with the bit, thence upward along the cheek andthrough one of said loops, and thence rearward to the reins.

3. The herein described bridle comprising a head-stall, rosettes at theends thereof, snap hooks engaging the rosettes and each having an openframe with a bar acrossit producing a pair of eyes, a throat latch ofrope which near each end passes upward through one of said eyes,oversaid cross bar, and downward through the other of said eyes, andwhich has a loop at its extremity; a a main rope whose centerconstitutes the brow-band, and which leads from each end thereof firstthrough a rosette,thence down alongside the cheek and bent upward againalongside the cheek, thence through one of said loops, and to the rear;and a bit hook engaging the bend in the last-named rope and adapted tobe connected with the bit.

4. The herein described bridle comprising a head-stall having a loopnear each end, two rosettes whereof each includes a frame having a pairof eyes separated by a cross bar and an opening with which said loopengages, a throat latch having loops at its extremities, snap'hooks onsaid throat latch engaging the rosettes; and a main rope whose centerconstitutes the brow-band and which leads from each end thereof firstthrough said eyes of a rosette and over its cross bar, thence downalongside the cheek and is adapted to be connected with the bit, thenceupward" again alongside the cheek and through one of the loops of thethroat latch, and thence rearward to the reins.

5. In a bridle, a head-stall, rosettes at its ends, a throat alatchconnected with said rosettes and having loops, and a single piece ofrope forming the brow-band, passing through said rosettes, thence downin the cheek lines adapted to be connected with the bit, and thenceupward through said loops and to the rear; combined with hame padsunderlying the rear stretches of said rope, and buckles connecting themrespectively therewith, for the purpose set forth. 7

6. In a bridle, two rosettes, a single piece of rope constituting thebrow-band whose ends engage with said rosettes, lead thence down to formthe cheek lines adapted to be connected with the bit, and lead thence tothe rear, thehead-stall, and the throatlatch; 3

combined with a wirewhich passes through the cheek line, thence upwardbeneath the same, and engages with said head-stall, for the purpose setforth.

7 In a bridle, two rosettes whereof each has an opening, a single pieceof rope con- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

